Guilty plea expected by reputed Conn. mobster

Published: November 14, 2012 2:52AM

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A 76-year-old reputed Connecticut mobster is expected to plead guilty in a weapons and prescription drugs case that has revealed the FBI's belief that he has information about the largest art heist in history.

Robert Gentile (JEN'-tile), of Manchester, has a change-of-plea hearing scheduled for Wednesday in Hartford federal court.

Federal prosecutors and Gentile's lawyer declined to comment on the hearing.

During a hearing in the case last March, a federal prosecutor disclosed that the FBI believes Gentile had some involvement with stolen property related to a 1990 heist at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Thieves made off with masterworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and Manet worth more than a half-billion dollars.

Gentile hasn't been charged in the art heist and his lawyer says his client knows nothing about it.